Nanoscape

Nanoscape is a cinematic short film that takes the audience on a journey to the surface of a human cancer cell. It visualizes how nanoparticle-based drug therapy targets and destroys cancer cells. Built and rendered in the video game engine Unity3D as an explorable real-time environment, Nanoscape is a collaborative project between 3D computer artists, simulation technical developers, nano-technologists, chemists and cell biologists. This ground-breaking project aims to increase the authenticity of scientific visualizations and brings the complexity of molecular 3D animation to a real-time interactive platform.

Using the technology and techniques of level design, environment art and molecular simulation, the team adapted actual data from cell microscopy and the protein data bank to visualize a realistically-scaled cellular environment. The audience is transported from the human scale to the cell surface as an observer only forty nanometers tall. Sequences of the interactive world have been captured in a compelling narrative that offers hope through scientific advancements.